A Texas-based home decor retailer is hoping to feel at home in the Bronx.
At Home has signed a lease for 135,000 square feet at Prestige Properties and Development’s Bay Plaza Shopping Center, Welco Realty announced. The home decor store will fill a space vacated by Kmart, which has closed nearly all of its stores since filing for bankruptcy in 2018.
The deal is technically a sublease with Transform KM, one of the entities that previously acquired Kmart’s assets. Jerry Welkis of Welco represented the retailer on the lease, while JLL’s Erin Grace represented Transform KM.
Welco did not respond to a request for comment on the terms.
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At Home plans to open the Bronx store this spring. It will join a roster of other retail chains at the shopping center and accompanying mall, including the first Apple store in the Bronx. Apple’s store at the Mall at Bay Plaza is roughly 10,000 square feet.
At Home has more than 240 stores in the country, selling home decor items including furniture, mirrors, rugs, arts and houseware. The typical store is slightly more than 100,000 square feet.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021, At Home reported a net sales increase of 41 percent to $562 million and record net income of $72.7 million.
The company has recently opened stores in Rockland County and Middletown in Orange County. It took over part of a Macy’s building in the former and a former Garden Mountain store in the latter.
At Home made its New York CIty debut two years ago, taking roughly 130,000 square feet at the Alexander’s-owned Rego Center in Queens. The retailer took over the former Kohl’s space on the second floor of the mall; the Kohl’s had closed in the middle of 2019 after approximately 13 years.
That lease is due to expire in 2031, though it can be renewed through 2051.